‘Don’t you fucking dare,’ I replied.
The thunder rumbled. The three of them were framed perfectly, clothes clinging to their bodies in the rain.
The two Dylans, together.
Lily, alone.
Prince Charming and Cinderella, hands locked together, each of them desperate to protect the other, a pair of star-crossed lovers.
The evil queen, that wicked glint in her eye, bent only on chaos.
She was spectacular.
Romeo-Dylan held up his free hand reassuringly. ‘I haven’t made any decisions yet.’
‘Oh really?’ Lily said. ‘Not even who you’re cutting?’
A pained expression came across Romeo-Dylan’s face.
Lily smirked. ‘I’ll save you the trouble. Dylan Jayasinghe Mellor, your heart is not the other half of mine.’
Juliet-Dylan snorted. ‘No shit.’
‘Don’t cut,’ I said into my headset, before anyone could stop them and make them reshoot for swearing.
‘And your heart isn’t the other half of his either,’ Lily said, raising her chin, rain cascading over her as she looked Juliet-Dylan in the eye. ‘You can tell yourself he’s the person for you as much as you want, but he isn’t – and you know that.’
‘You don’t know a thing about me, Lily,’ Juliet-Dylan replied coolly, meeting her gaze. ‘Not one single thing.’
Another perfect moment of television. Two women, equally matched. Two rivals. Two sides of the same coin.
The heroine, the one everyone would love. And the anti-heroine, the one everyone would love to hate and hate to love all at once, driving the hero and the heroine together as she went out in a blaze of glory.
My heart was beating so fast.
‘You keep thinking that.’ Lily didn’t give an inch as Juliet-Dylan glared at her. ‘You can add it to all the other lies you tell yourself.’
‘All right, that’s enough,’ Romeo-Dylan said firmly.
He positioned himself in front of Juliet-Dylan, Prince Charming standing up for his princess. ‘Lily, you’ve made the right decision. Your heart is not the other half of mine. I hope you find what you’re looking for, but it isn’t me.’
‘Now there’s something she and I can agree on.’ Lily waved her hand at Juliet-Dylan. ‘No shit.’
Then she drew herself up. There was no softness in her, no vulnerability – only hard, jagged edges, so sharp the merest touch would make you bleed.
‘I hope you find what you’re looking for too,’ she said to Romeo-Dylan. ‘You’re a nice man. A bit of a wet blanket, but you’re nice.’
She was magnificent.
‘But it’s not her,’ Lily said. ‘The person you’re looking for – it isn’t her.’
Afterwards, I would watch the footage of what happened next. Of how, after Lily walked away, the Dylans turned to each other.
She’s wrong,Juliet-Dylan said.She doesn’t know you. She doesn’t know me. She doesn’t know anything. And the way I feel about you is…
Dyl,Romeo-Dylan replied, even as Juliet-Dylan choked on the lies she could not bring herself to tell.I’m so grateful for you.
I’d watch Juliet-Dylan clutch at his lapels. Watch him raise his hand to her cheek, stroke the backs of his fingers down her face. Watch them lean their foreheads together in the rain, water pouring over them, another flicker of lightning illuminating them. Watch them kiss, once, twice, three times. Watch them wrap their arms around each other and embrace like their knees might give way if they let go.
